Chapter 23: But, I Refuse!
Rowe turned a corner and walked through several more streets. Sunlight fell in broken patches between the houses, warm and lazy, but the pull he felt grew sharper with every step.
At last, he found the source hidden in a slice of shadow.
"Hmph. I thought you would not dare to come."
The voice echoed down a deep, flat alley wedged between towering halls. The figure standing there had her back to him. Black hair swayed as she turned, and the pale, athletic body beneath her thin divine clothing carried a faint ivory gleam even in the shade.
Just as Rowe had guessed.
"It really is you, Ishtar."
"That is right. It is this Goddess."
Ishtar ran her fingers through her hair with practiced ease, her expression calm, as if the humiliation from last time had never happened. There was even a graceful smile on her delicate face.
A smile that felt… trained.
Completely different from her earlier arrogance. Now she wore something closer to refined confidence, the kind that came with a careful rehearsal.
She waited, almost expectantly, for Rowe's reaction.
Ever since her defeat, the humanity fused with her vessel had been quietly teaching her new things. Among them was the concept humans called inner beauty.
To put it bluntly, she had learned this lesson:
Gentle women are popular.
And Ishtar was absolutely certain Rowe would be no exception.
She lifted her gaze toward him.
Rowe's handsome face met her, and his expression seemed to say only one thing.
You disappoint me, child.
"…?"
What kind of look is that?
Ishtar's composed smile cracked for a heartbeat.
Rowe, meanwhile, really was disappointed. He had assumed this invitation meant revenge. A blade. A divine punishment. A clean, satisfying death.
He had even sent Enkidu away for it.
And now this was the grand ambush?
"If that is all, I will go back." Rowe shrugged and yawned, not bothering to hide his boredom.
He started clapping his hands lightly, already turning to leave.
Playing hard to get was humiliating enough to make a god itch.
Sure enough, Ishtar steadied herself. She took a slow breath. Her chest rose and fell as she forced her pride into order.
No. I cannot let him walk away. If he leaves now, the past seven days were for nothing.
Light footsteps tapped closer. Her legs and hips swayed as she approached, closing the distance until only five meters remained.
Rowe's pulse lifted.
Is she finally making a move?
His heart produced a ridiculous flicker of anticipation.
Then Ishtar smiled brightly, almost sweetly, and said,
"Be my lover, Mister Rowe."
Rowe stared at her.
"?"
Are you serious? Are we even acquainted enough for that sentence?
Then it clicked.
Ishtar was trying the same trick she had tried on Gilgamesh, only aimed at him now.
The words she had thrown at him last time, the forced confidence, the sudden gentleness. It all fit.
It also meant something else.
She had not been in contact with the heavens lately.
Otherwise she either would not meet him alone, or she would try to kill him on sight after what he had done in the forest.
What a shame.
"You do not have to answer immediately." Ishtar folded her arms, pressing them in as if sheer willpower could make miracles happen, then gave up with an annoyed flick of her wrist.
She raised a slender finger and pointed lazily toward him.
"I know what you are thinking."
She stepped closer again. The gap shrank until she was almost within breathing distance. A light fragrance drifted toward him, and her soft body hovered inches away. Ishtar leaned in so close her face nearly brushed his.
Rowe went still, eyes fixed on her.
He had insulted her plenty, but he had never underestimated her beauty. This was the body of a heroine from the Nasuverse, not some random divine disguise. Maybe not the absolute pinnacle of creation, but certainly enough to make any normal man's thoughts wobble.
Their posture had turned dangerously ambiguous.
Old Ishtar would never do this. The proud goddess who treated mortals as toys would not even step this close to a human.
Not even to Gilgamesh.
But seven days of vessels and divinity merging had changed something. The Goddess of Beauty was still proud, still competitive, but now that pride had learned to blush.
"…How is it?" she whispered, her lips parting. A faint red spread across her cheeks. "My heart is beating very fast, you know?"
She spoke against his ear, voice soft enough to feel like a caress. The corner of her mouth curled slightly, confident in her own performance.
According to everything she had studied from her vessel's humanity, and the countless simulations she had run in her head, no human could resist this.
Even if her chest was hammering like a war drum.
Even if she kept telling herself it was only acting.
"An abnormal heartbeat and pulse is a sickness that needs treatment."
Rowe placed a hand on her bare shoulder, pushed her gently back, and faced her straight on with absolute seriousness.
Ishtar froze.
Why is he not reacting?
Rowe could have reacted. He was not a statue and he was not dead inside. The problem was much simpler.
"Lady Ishtar," he said politely, "did you not set a bounded field to disperse ordinary people?"
He pointed behind her.
Ishtar's body stiffened. She sensed it before she dared to look.
Because behind them, muffled voices floated in from the alley mouth.
"What are they doing in broad daylight?"
"I do not know…"
"Are they young lovers? Youth is so nice…"
In broad daylight, with spectators.
What reaction did she expect him to give?
Ishtar's blush looked ready to ignite her face on the spot.
Ah. Too embarrassing. Too embarrassing. Too embarrassing.
A gust of wind swept through.
The onlookers vanished.
Rowe blinked, gaze dropping to Ishtar's raised hand. A faint shimmer of divine light lingered in her palm.
Rowe had instinctively tensed, ready to intervene. He wanted to die, sure, but he was not going to let a goddess slaughter civilians for a botched pickup line.
But Ishtar did not kill them.
She wiped their memories clean and sent them away.
That was not a normal Ishtar response.
"I thought it was strange before," Rowe said slowly. "You have fused with your vessel's humanity, have you not?"
This awkward shyness. This critical moment collapse. The way she stumbled into embarrassment like a trapped cat.
It was too familiar.
This was Tohsaka Rin bleeding through.
That was why Rowe had not stopped those onlookers earlier. Rin might panic, but he would not. Ordinary people could not hide from someone who had become the Key of Heaven itself. He had let the scene play out to be sure.
And now he was sure.
Ishtar turned her head away with an audible huff, cheeks still red. The guilt made her posture painfully stiff.
"Hmph. I made it clear."
Then, with the fierce stubbornness of a goddess and the fluster of a girl both battling for control, she snapped,
"Be… become my lover, you bastard!"
She was still shy.
She was also still Ishtar.
It had to be said, this version of her was far cuter than the old one.
Rowe looked genuinely moved for a moment. Ishtar, who had already decided her strategy failed, felt hope rebound like a startled heartbeat.
And then Rowe said, perfectly plainly,
"But I refuse."
Ishtar stared at him.
Are you… joking with me?
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]